Bob Pisani, who recently left reporting about markets at CNBC, writes on a blog about how he had to deal with assholes in his reporting.
Pisani writes, “One particular world-class asshole I knew was a high-ranking official at a famous Wall Street firm. I would speak to him in the course of routine reporting on the stock market. Invariably, he was suspicious and not cooperative. He even sought to block my access to others in the firm.
“I was not seeking inside information. I was not trying to get dirt on the sex habits of the CEO. I was making routine inquiries about the markets.
“I was doing my job.
“Years later, this guy called me. It was the first time he had ever called me.
“He said that he was leaving his firm, and wanted to give me his email and phone number. He was surprisingly pleasant, and it was obvious he wanted to keep his relationship with me in case it was useful at his new firm.
“This was not an unusual call. People switch jobs all the time and they would call or email me with their new contact info.
“My normal procedure is to be kind and solicitous to anyone making this kind of call, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I broke protocol.
“‘Thanks for calling, I really appreciate it,’ I said. ‘But I’m just curious about something: why were you such an asshole?'”
Read more here.
